


The Hoodie

by helsinkibaby



Category: NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Het, Romance, post ep, season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:09:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28462917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Nell is nursing her wounds when there’s a knock at her door.
Relationships: G Callen/Nell Jones
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	The Hoodie

**Author's Note:**

> Because if I was writing it, War Cries would not have ended with Callen and Joelle, and Joelle would not be a thing! (A badly written retcon thing to boot .)

When the knock came to her door, Nell groaned, rising with some difficulty and making her way to the door with even more. She wasn’t in the mood for visitors - something to do with being beaten and choked by a serial killer - but anyone who knew her address would know that had happened to her today. Which lowered the list of potential visitors quite a bit. 

Perhaps to only one. 

She wasn’t surprised when she saw who was standing there - there had been a few moments lately where he’d gone out of his way to find her, ever since they’d worked in the field at Reduce Q - but still, it didn’t pay to let him know that. 

“What are you doing here?” 

Callen shrugged as she stepped back to let him in, his eyes roaming over her face, lingering on the tiny steri-strips above her eye. “Came to check if you’re okay,” he said after a moment and in that pause, Nell could swear that she saw his hand twitch, as if he’d been going to lift his hand to her face. But no, she told herself firmly. That type of thinking would definitely be proof that she was hit way harder in the head than she’d actually thought. 

“I’m fine.” The reply was automatic and he gave her a raised eyebrow and tilted head in response. “I’m sore all over and my head is pounding,” she admitted. 

“Well you did get pretty hard.” Callen’s acknowledgment brought with it a sudden flash of memory, her body impacting with the boat shed wall and she was hard pressed to fight off a wince. 

“Kinda regretting Hetty reinforcing those walls,” she said, thinking out loud, and it made him smile. 

“And you just happened to have a knife in your boot?” 

She shrugged. “Always prepared.” 

“Girl Scouts or Hetty?” 

“Can’t it be both?” 

Callen narrowed his eyes. “I’m picturing Hetty leading a troupe now. It’s strangely terrifying.” 

Nell knew exactly what he meant, could picture it too and it made her chuckle, a move she immediately regretted. She touched her forehead with a wince she couldn’t keep back, closed her eyes and felt, rather than saw, Callen take a step towards her. His hand landed on her shoulder, firm, supporting. “Whoa, you okay there?” 

She forced her eyes open and a smile to her face. “Nothing some painkillers and a good night’s sleep won’t cure.” He didn’t look convinced. “Callen, I’m fine.” 

There was a thin line between his eyebrows that wasn’t usually there as both hands moved up and down her shoulders. He seemed lost in thought for a moment, then his lips twitched. “You know you’re still wearing my hoodie, right?” 

Actually she hadn’t and she blinked in surprise. “You mean this is yours?” The whole incident in the boat shed was a little bit blurry, snatches of memory sharpening and receding in fits and starts and she didn’t remember who’d given her the hoodie, just remembered sitting on the couch, trembling as an EMT checked her over, then feeling the hoodie slip over her shoulders from behind. She hadn’t paid much attention at the time, had still been woozy from the attack, but later on, she’d been grateful for its soft cosy material. Which was why she was still wearing it, hadn’t changed even though she had plenty of her own cosy clothes. 

“I had it in my locker there.” Which made sense, each agent having at least one change of clothes there. “I could see you shaking from clear across the room... I knew it was the adrenaline but I thought it might help.” 

“It did.” There was a lump in her throat suddenly and she swallowed it back. “So, you’re here to... take it back?” 

The teasing was a good recovery, she hoped, but he didn’t smile. “Keep it,” he said. “It looks better on you anyway.” 

She knew her cheeks flushed bright red then. 

She didn’t really care. 

Of course, it did give her an opening to ask about something else. “You didn’t have to dress up for me.” 

He blinked then looked down and his face cleared. “Ah, the suit. It’s actually a loaner from Hetty.” 

Nell thought it was cute that he thought she hadn’t known that but she didn’t say so. Instead, she just waited and after a second he dropped his hand from her shoulder, spread his hands wide. “I was supposed to be meeting Sam and Michelle for dinner,” he said. “Except when I got there, they weren’t there... but Michelle’s friend was.” 

Nell narrowed both eyes. “And you had no idea.” When he shook his head, she wondered not for the first time how such a brilliant agent could be so utterly clueless. “You know that’s the set up plot of every cheesy 90s rom-com, right?” 

Callen lifted one shoulder. “I never was much for cheesy 90s rom-coms.” 

Turning away from him, Nell moved towards the couch, intending to lift her tea cup, now doubtless cold, and bring it to the sink. “So how come you’re here?” she wondered, keeping her voice light. “Isn’t it kind of early for a date to be over?” 

“Because I realised... I didn’t want to be at a fancy restaurant, drinking martinis, all dressed up.” His voice sounded like he was right behind her and when she turned her head to look at him, that’s exactly where he was. Something about the look in his eyes made her forget all about the tea cup. “I wanted to be somewhere quiet... drinking tea... with someone wearing my hoodie.”

She froze at that, went very still. Because since “cute girls with guns” there had been other flirty comments, other long looks. A statement like that, however? That was a much bigger step. Like a leap of Olympic proportions. 

She swallowed hard, realised he hadn’t blinked, was completely calm. 

That made one of them. 

But she had to be sure. “What are you saying?” 

She hated how halting her voice sounded but he didn’t look taken aback at all. Indeed, there was a smile on his face and a glint in his eyes when he reached out to take her hand, pulling her towards him. Not that she put up much resistance. “I think you know.” He held her hand between them, ran a thumb over her knuckles. “I think we’ve both known... for a while now.” 

Nell sucked in a deep breath, slowly. It still hurt to breathe and the way her heart was pounding did not help. “Are you sure?” 

This time his smile was closer to a grimace. “If I wasn’t, trying to get to the boat shed today, knowing I’d sent you to babysit a serial killer did a pretty good job of convincing me.” He shook his head. “If something had happened to you...”

“Don’t.” She didn’t want to think about that. Not now. “So you’re here for me? Not your hoodie?” 

“I can buy another hoodie. There’s only one Nell Jones.” 

She grinned. “Because if you want me to,” she said, “I can take it off.” 

One of his arms slid around her waist. “That was part of my plan,” he told her. “Right along with kissing you better.” 

Her hands landed on the lapels of his jacket and she was very careful not to wrinkle it. Hetty would kill him and she liked him alive, thank you very much. “Sounds like a plan to me.”


End file.
